art of persuasion

Fun builds relationships. We know how to tear relationships apart: criticism, disinterest, constant disagreement, and entitled superiority. For some bringing their relationships closer together can be mystifying. It shouldn’t be! When we have positive shared experiences with people, we feel closer to them which makes it easier to traverse the topsy-turvy twists that inevitably befall us at one time or another. Because we’ve enjoyed laughter and maybe even just a little inkling of love (or at the very least likability) we are quicker to forgive each other when the going gets hard. Why should building relationships be limited to leisure? You probably interact with your co-workers, direct reports and clients for a much more significant portion of your day to day. Having a positive, healthy relationship with those folks can only build your success, so I say embrace it!

In the world of theater we call it a stumble-through. It’s the rehearsal where you put down your script, even though you’re not ready, and put the show on its feet. You get through it, perhaps a little dinged up, but now you know what you need to work on.

I’m excited to incorporate this idea of buoyancy more explicitly into my classes because the benefits are clearly huge. In Seligman’s Research, Buoyancy was the number one predictor of sales success. It allowed people to get back in there and try again with a positive attitude, giving them the numbers they need to achieve the success they desire.

This is the new model for sales in the information age. Listening to what people need. Building relationships. Being present and responsive leaves room for my customers to tell me what will be best for them, and my ability to meet that request allows everyone involved to walk away feeling great about the transaction… and there’s nothing icky about that!

Quotes, and aphorisms, have the benefit of adding authority to your words. Whose authority? Whomever you are quoting. You only need provide attribution for your quote if you desire to grant its authority to yourself. You can even quote yourself!

The point is that you constantly influence people with the things you say and don’t say, do and don’t do, and even what you think or don’t think about them, because your influence on you is one of the primary drivers of your influence on others.

Your stability is the center of your flexibility, and that stability comes from accepting what is. If you can’t accept what is happening for what it is, you are already off balance, and contributing to your own downfall.